After a goodwill mission of the Indian
Parliamentarians led by veteran journalist Kuldip Nayyar, a strong
delegation of Pakistani businessmen, representing all the federating
units, completed a week-long tour of India under the leadership of
Senator Ilyas Ahmed Bilour, a prominent businessman/industrialist from
Peshawar.

Pakistani businessmen were invited to attend the 3rd
meeting (July 7-8) of the India-Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and
Industry in Delhi. On this occasion a six men representative delegation
led by Mr. Bilour also called on Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Attal Behari
Vajpayee, who warmly received them and hoped that visit of Pakistani
businessman's delegation would lead to a better understanding and
cementing of trade and commercial relations between the two countries.

Most of the Pakistani businessmen — part of
delegation or not — are strongly in favour of trade with India.
Admitting that India will benefit more from the bilateral trade, they
maintain that Pakistan will also benefit a lot. They maintain that
Pakistani industries can immensely benefit from the lifting of the ban
on the import of textile machinery, petrochemicals and pharmaceutical
raw materials from India. There is an absence of high-tech textile
machinery manufacturing in Pakistan and the country is heavily dependent
on imports. Though there are some two hundred manufacturing units of
textile machinery in the country, they are basically copying old
imported designs thus unable to meet the growing use of high-tech
machines by the manufacturers. On the other hand, indigenous but quality
manufacturers, the majority of whom have collaboration with leading
textile machinery manufacturers of the world meet the bulk of needs of
Indian textile mills. Many of these manufacturers are exporting
machinery and related accessories under buy-back arrangement or as a
part of their principal's global export strategy. Some of the textile
machinery imported in Pakistan is reportedly made under license in India
at much lower costs. The opening up of the trade would help Pakistani
textile industry buy the capital machinery directly from India at much
lower prices and shipment costs.

Similarly, Pakistan can also benefit greatly from
import of petrochemicals use in the manufacture of a large number of
goods including synthetic fibres, dyestuffs, drugs, pesticides, plastic
products and artificial rubber. Buying directly from India would mean
lower prices and reduced shipment costs to improve competitiveness
particularly such leading exports as textile and leather. As stated
earlier, even if the opening of the bilateral trade tilts heavily in
favour of India it offers many intangible benefits to many Pakistani
industries.

The efforts of prominent business leaders of Pakistan
and India to exchanging ideas of normalizing trade relations should
augur well for reshaping the economies of the entire South Asian region.
Needless to point out that prospects of balanced and purposeful economic
development have remained beset rather too long from bitterness between
the two countries. It is good that top business leaders in India availed
the opportunity to make telephone calls to Karachi, urging friends and
trade partners in Pakistan to revive the paralyzed India-Pakistan Joint
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, while also stressing the need of the
two countries awakening to the urgency of together playing their due
role in making SAARC an effective business forum for South Asian
businessmen. Attributable, essentially, as this apparent change of heart
on the Indian side is to their enlightened self-interest, similarly
motivated should be the response of their counterparts on our side of
the border. This should become all the more evident from the Federation
of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry reportedly discussing the
prospect of reactivating the joint chamber, along with the possibility
of resumption of normal trade relations.

Little wonder, they appear to be keenly looking
forward to resumption of air, over-land and sea links between the two
countries, India had snapped two years ago. It goes without saying, as
such, that resumption of these snapped ties, together with the revival
of diplomatic activity, can mark the beginning of the long evasive joint
effort towards greater mobilization of tremendous economic potential. It
will be recalled that the joint chamber of commerce and industry, set up
in 1999, under almost similar circumstances, has remained inert since
then from the political compulsion later emerging. However, the second
meeting of the executive committee inaugurated by former Privatization
Minister Saleem Altaf was held in May 2001, but another meeting
scheduled for December 2002 could not see light of the day.
Nevertheless, it will be noted that as in politics, public opinion
whether expressed or not does carry its weight, so in trade. The urge
for business whether officially transacted or not, finds its reflection.
This, of course, has reference to the quantum of mutual trade actually
flowing between the two countries. For despite the low level of trade on
official level — 200 to 250 million dollars a year — India and
Pakistan have continued exchanging goods through illegal channels or
through third countries to the extent of around $1 billion.

Noting that the actual gains of development can best
be gauged from the volume of trade they generate, it is really
unfortunate for both Pakistan and India that the millions continue to
remain deprived of the gain of enormous investment in development from
restrictions on mutual trade, thereby strengthening the grip of parallel
economy in both the countries. And this should leave little to doubt
from a comparison of the formal trade and smuggling, which is resorted
to, to meet only part of the actual demand. For instance, only 600 items
are officially allowed to be imported from India in Pakistan. However, a
large number of the banned items from that country reportedly find their
way into Pakistan, mostly through smuggling. According to one report,
the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry has
identified a number of items, including textile machinery and equipment,
tannery equipment, machine tools and equipment, cotton fabrics, tyres,
chemical goods, viscose fibre, cosmetics alcoholic beverages, stainless
steel utensils, ayurvedic medicines, video tapes, cassettes,
confectioneries and cashew nuts, brought in through unofficial channels.
More or less, similarly forbidden Pakistani items, including plastic
goods, synthetic fabrics, melamine dinner sets, textile and clothing,
wheat, sugar; edible oil and vegetable ghee get smuggled to India. There
exists, as such, a strong case for promoting strong trade ties between
Pakistan and India in their own mutual interest. Now that the prospects
of cordial relationship between the two countries have started
brightening, it is time for businessmen to ensure creation of joint
strategy for purposeful economic co-operation on a lasting basis.